Fairfield men's lacrosse team has high expectations

William S. Paxton

Updated 12:46 am, Friday, February 15, 2013

FAIRFIELD -- A record 12-win season and almost crashing the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament might look great on Fairfield University's resume, but last season's accomplishment means little now.

"We try to stay in the moment and not try to look back or look too far ahead in the future," said Fairfield coach Andrew Copelan, who received a contract extension, through 2019, in the off-season. "Right now this is a whole new team. I think it's a talented team and a deep team, (but all the NCAA Division I) teams look better than the year before."

In four years, Copelan has complied a 35-24 record, but more importantly, has put the Stags' name onto the national scene, where they ended up No. 17 in the country after losing in the ECAC championship game for the second straight season last May to eventual NCAA champion Loyola, Md.

Fairfield, which is ranked 16th in the preseason Nike/IL Media Poll and was chosen third in the ECAC preseason coaches` poll, starts the season 1 p.m. Saturday at Bryant. The Stags were supposed to play last weekend at Stony Brook, but after the opener was pushed back twice due to the aftermath of winter storm Nemo, it was finally cancelled Monday.

"I think we have five games in two weeks, so we`ll get a pretty good feel early on who we are and what our identity is going to be," Copelan said, "and what we need to do to make sure we are clicking on all cylinders come conference time."

The strength of the Stags should be the midfield, which is anchored by two Major Lacrosse League draft picks, seniors Sam Snow (38 goals, 8 assists) and groundball machine (52) Marshall Johnson. The defense took a couple hits, including losing goalie Charlie Cipriano, but the addition of Johns Hopkins transfer Toby Armour, a New Haven native who attend Choate in Wallingford, should help fill some of the void.

"There's been some pressure (for the veterans to step up), but then young guys have stepped up and taken some of the pressure off of us," Johnson said. "They have been playing really well and we are looking forward to seeing what they can do in a real game."

Other local players include two Fairfield Prep graduates: freshman long-stick midfielder Conor Barr and sophomore midfielder Griff McGoldrick, along with Weston's Kim McMahon, a sophomore midfielder. Junior midfielder Connor Maniatty is from Avon.

The one unsettled spot appears to be goaltender where freshman Tom Branca (Weston), sophomore Conor Fravlick and junior Jack Murphy have yet to separate themselves.

"Ultimately I'd like to (pick one), but we are not quite there yet," Copelan said. "Right now we are letting the guys compete and slug it out. Once one of them establishes themselves as the clear No. 1 and we feel they've earned it, then we'll be prepared to name a starter."

One of the areas where the Stags thrived last season was in close games, posting a 6-0 record in one-goal decisions that included four in overtime. In 2011, the Stags went 1-4 in one-goal games.

"I think chemistry and an overall belief after winning a couple one-goal games early on in the season, I just think that boded well for us later in the season because you could keep falling back to that experience," Copelan said. "We were just fortunate. Part of it might have been luck, but I think more so it was chemistry and belief."

Fairfield hopes carry over those strengths, which helped it get off to a school-record 7-0 start a year ago.

"You always have high expectations and obviously you'd like to win an ECAC championship," Johnson said. "But you have to take it a game at a time."